Fountain tooth-brush.



' e. L. BROWN.

FOUNTAIN TOOTH BRUSH.

APPLICATION FILED APR.28.1917.

latentecl Mm. 19 1918.

LQGQ ISQV INVENTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEY GEORGE L. BROWN, OF PLANT CITY,FLORIDA.

FOUNTAIN TOOTH-BRUSH.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. BROWN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Plant City, in the county of Hillsborough' and State ofFlorida, have invented new and useful Improvements Tooth-Brushes, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to fountain tooth brushes and it consists in thenovel features v hereinafter described and claimed.-

An object of the invention is to provide 'a brush of the characterindicated which is of sanitary nature, convenient'to manipulate andeconomical to manufacture and maintain.

With these and other objects in view the tooth brush comprises areservoir which may be used as a handle and which may retain a quantityof paste. This reservoir is provided at one end with a vent and aresilient frame is located at that end of the reservoir which isprovided with the vent. A spring pressed valve is mounted upon thereservoir and normally closes the vent thereof. A plunger is mounted formovement within the reservoir and is slidably mounted upon a rod, therebeing means for moving. the plunger in one direction with the movementof the rod but permitting the plunger to remain at a state of rest whenthe rod moves in an opposite direction. A conicaliy coiled spring isoperatively connected wi the said rod and is adapted to normally holdthe same in a retracted osition in the reservoir,-a detachable hoo isapplied to the reservoir and houses the said s ring.

brush body is adapted to be applled to the said resilient frame andcarries bristles which are adapted to receive upon their ends the pastefrom the reservoir when the same is expelled through the vent.

In the accompanying drawing a Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional viewof the brush;

Fig. 2 is a detail fragmentary sectional view of the intermediateportion thereof;

Fig. 3 is a transverse-sectional view of the brush cut on the-line 3-3of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a'perspective view of a clutch member used in the brush;

' Fig. 5 is a plan view of the frame which is mounted upon the reservoirof the brush; Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional new of the Specificationotletters Patent. Application filed A ril-as, 1917. Serial in. 165,206.,

in Fountain Patented Mar. 19,1918.

Fig. 7 is a similar view cut on the line tainer which may hold the pastewhich is supplied-to the reservoir.

The fountain brush comprises a reservoir 1 adapted to receive a paste orother suitable emulsion and which carries at one end a resilient frame'2. The said frame 2 is provided at its side edges with upstandingflanges 3 which in turn are provided at their upper edges and at pointsbetween their endswith inwardly disposed tongues 4. An inwardly disposedtongue 5 (best shown in Fig. 1) is provided at the end of the frame 2.The frame 2 is adapted to support a brush which consists of a back 6having grooves 7 and 8 adapted to 1 receive the tongues 4 and 5respectively. The said brush is further provided with bristles 9, theupper or freeends of which lie in a compound curved line as best shownin Fig. 1. The grooves 7 are located atthe opposite side edges of theback 6 and the groove 8 is located at the end thereof. When the brush'isinserted in position upon the frame 2, the tongue 5 is inserted in thegroove 8 and the back 6 is pressed down so that the said frame is sprunglaterally and the tongues 4 may enter in the groove 7. Thus the brush issecurely held in position upon the frame 2 but may be readily detachedtherefrom by reversing the operation just described. When the brush isin position upon the frame the flanges 3 close the space between theedges of the back 6 and the body of the frame 2 thus preventing foreignsubstance from accumulating between the back 6 of the brush and the bodyportion of the frame 2.

That end of the reservoir 1 which is adjacent the frame 2 is providedwith a vent 10 and a valve 11 is pivoted to the reservoir 1 adjacent thesaid vent. A sprin 12 is fixed at one end to the body of the rame 1 andbears at its other end against the edge of the valve 11 and is undertension with a tendenc ,to normally hold the valve 11 in a closeposition over the vent 10. A tube 13 is adapted to be slip ed over thatend of the reservoir 1 who is adjacent the frame 2 and the said tubeincloses the said frame and the brush.

Absorbentmaterial 14 as for instance cotlocated in one end of the tube13 and no may be treated with a medicament or sterilizing agent and isheld in osition by a perforated plate 15 located within the tube 13.When the brush is inclosed within the tube 13 it is subjected to thefumes from the medicament or sterilizing agent and thus the bristles ofthe brush are maintained in a sanitary condition when the device is notin use.

A plunger 16 is slidably mounted in the reservoir 1 and a rod 17 passesthrough the same and may slide therein. The plunger 16 is provided witha packing 16' of rubber or other suitable material which bears againstthe rod 17 and the inner surface of the reservoir 1 and preventsthepaste from passing behind the plunger. The rod 17 is provided at itsinner end with an enlarged head 18 and in the vicinity of its other endwith a stop 19 which is adapted to encounter the end of the reservoir 1as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. A hood 20 is attached to the outerend of the rod 17 and is provided with a reduced inner portion 21adapted to be slipped over the humps 22 provided upon the reservoir 1whereby the said hood is maintained in position upon the reservoir butmay have slight longitudinal movement with relation to the same. A coneshaped spiral spring 23 is interposed between the end ofthe reservoir 1and the inner surface of the hood 20 and is under tension with atendency to normally maintain the stop 19 of the rod 17 in engagementwith the end of the reservoir 1. A clutch member 24 is carried by theplunger 16 and the said memher is provided with tongues 25 which areadapted to engage the inner surface of the reservoir 1. The said clutchmember is further provided with tongues 26 adapted to engage the rod 17as best indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The said tongues 25 and 26are disposed in the said general direction with relation to the adjacentsurface of the plunger 16 but they are disposed at angles with relationto each other so that the plunger 16 is forced to move with the rod 17when the said rod is moved in one direction but the rod 17 may move inan opposite direction without moving the plunger 16. This is due to thefact that when the rod 17 is moved in the direction last indicated thetongues 25 frictionally engage the sides of the reservoir 1 and hold theplunger 16 agains movement. A block 27 is carried b the plunger 16 andis attached thereto by means of bolts or other securing devices 28 andserve as means for holding the clutch member 24 in position withrelation to the plunger.

In Fig. 8 of the drawing is shown a container 29 in perspective whichretains the paste or other lotion which is adapted to be filled in thereservoir 1.

The material from the container 29 is placed in the reservoir 1 as shownin Fig. 1 after the plunger 16 has been removed therefrom and the hood2O detached from the end of the said reservoir. The said plunger 16 isthen replaced in the reservoir 1 and the reduced end portion 21 of thehood 20 is engaged over the hump 22 of the said reservoir. .As the pasteor lotion is used the hood 20 is forced in an inward direction towardthe end of the reservoir 1 whereby the plunger 16 is moved toward thevent 10 and the paste or lotion is forced through the said vent and overthe curved line described by the ends of the bristles 9 of the brush. Asthe lotion moves through the vent 10 it forces the valve 11 to an openposition but as soon as the movement of the I lotion or paste ceases thetension of the spring 12 comes into play whereby the valve 11 is movedto a closed position over the vent 10 and the stream of lotion is cutthus leaving a portion thereof upon the ends of the bristles 9 of thebrush. The brush may then be used upon the teeth in an ordinary mannerand after the cleaning operation has been performed, the tube 13 may beplaced in position upon the reservoir 1 whereby the frame 2 and thebrush are inclosed and the bristles of the brush are subjected to thesanitary action hereinbefore described.

From the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyindrawing, it will be seen that a fountain tooth brush of simple anddurable structure is provided and that the same includes economic andsanitary features, and may also be easily and readily used for cleaningthe teeth.

Having described the invention what is claimed is A brush of thecharacter stated comprising a reservoir having a vent, a brush bodymounted on the reservoir adjacent the vent, a rod slidably mounted inthe reservoir, :2. plunger slidably mounted on the rod and slidable inthe reservoir and including a packing of relatively soft material whichbears at one edge against the rod and at its other edge against theinner surface of the reservoir, a clutch device engageable with the rodand reservoir to hold the Inn er at adjusted position, a block locate adacent the clutch device and securing devices passing transverselythrough the plunger, the clutch device and the block.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

GEORGE L. BROWN.

